Refrigerator cabinet



July 22, 1941. H. D. V VHlTE Re. 21,864

REFRIGERATOR CABINET Original Filed Nov. 2, 1938 FIG. 4.-

INVENTORL HOWARD D. WHITE;

ATTORNEY Reissues] July 22, 1 941 Re, 21,864 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 21sec ncrmccae'ron cnnms'r Howard D. White, Adrian, Mich., assignor to Westinghouse Electric 5; Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original No. 2,212,964, dated August 21, 1940, Serial No. 238,364, November. 2, 1938. Application for reissue May 20, 1941, Serial No. 394,368

2 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinet construction and particularly to the construction and assembly of the breaker strips for closing the space between the inner and outer shells of a refrigerator cabinet.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved breaker strip assembly wherein the use of screws, nails and like for fastening the breaker strip to, the cabinet are dispensed with.

It is another object of my invention to provide a breaker strip assembly which effectively prevents the entrance of moisture and air into the heat insulation of the refrigerator cabinet.

It is still another object of my invention to provide an improved breaker strip construction from the standpoint of appearance and to insure that the breaker strip will not move or rattlein the normal use of the refrigerator.

It is a further object of my invention to provide improved breaker strips which are easily and quickly assembled to refrigerator cabinets.

It is also an object of my invention to provide improved breaker strip assemblies for refrigerator cabinets of the type wherein the breaker strip lies in the plane of the door opening.

ing. The inner shell or food liner l1 is likewise bent at right angles peripherally of the door opening l5 to form a flange 22 in the plane of the front of the cabinet and extending toward the flange It! on the outer shell. A breaker strip 23 connects the inner and outer shells l6 and I1 and is preferably formed of a material impreg- 1 nated with a resinous condensate product, so

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in accordance with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet showing my improved breaker strip construcnon;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. l with the cabinet door in its closed position;

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of a metal spring preferably used in the breaker strip construction.

Referring specifically to the drawingfor a detailed description of my invention, numeral ll designates generally a refrigerator cabinet embodying a food compartment l2 containing an evaporate i3 and having a door It for closing a door op g 15. The cabinet H is formed by an outer shell 16 and an inner shell or food liner H with heat insulation disposed between the im r and outer shells. Thefood liner l'l' is suppo within the outer shell 16 in any suitable manner (not shown).

The outer shell l6, as shown in Fig. 2 is bent at right angles peripherally of the door opening 15 to form a flange it in the plane of the front that the breaker strip is non-metallic and nonhygroscopic. Preferably a flat strip 23 is provided at the top, bottom and each side of the door opening 15 and corner clips 24 cover the meeting edges of the four breaker strips.

The outer marginal edge 25 of the breaker strip 23 extends into the pocket 2| in the outer shell i6 as shown in Fig. 2. A strip of metal 25 bent to the cross section shown in Fig. 2 receives the inner marginal edge 21 of the breaker strip 23 and also receives the flange 22 on the inner shell II to retain one end of the breaker strip 23 in position.

A plurality of metal springs 28 bent to the shape shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are disposed in the pocket 2| in the outer shell IS. A hairpinshaped portion 29 of the spring 28 forces the breaker strip 23 transversely of its cross section against the inner face of the pocket 2|, thus sealing the heat insulation from the infiltration of moisture and air. outwardly extending wings 3! of the spring 28 force the breaker strip 23 longitudinally of its cross section and retain the edge 21 and the flange 22 of' the inner shell ll in engagement with the metal strip 28. It is thus apparent that the breaker strip 23 is held tightly in position and is disposed in the plane of the front surfaces of the cabinet II.

The breaker strip 23 is preferably assembled on the cabinet in the following manner. The strip of metal 26 is first placed on the inner edge 2'] of the breaker strip 23 and the springs 28 are disposed in the pocket 2|. The outer marginal edge 25 of the breaker strip is then inserted in the pocket 2| and the springs 28 are compressed by forcing the'breaker strip inwardly until the strip of metal 26 may be snapped in place on the flange 22. The four breaker strips 23 are assemlbled in this manner and the corner clips 24 are fastened to the cabinet.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a breaker strip construction of novel construction inrwhich the use of screws and nails is dispensed with and which lies'parallel to the front surfaces of the cabinet. Furthermore, the construction is readily assembled, neat therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim; is:

1. In rleirigerator cabinet construction, the

combination of inner and outer shells having heat insulation therebetween and provided with a door opening. said shells having edge portions bent inwardly toward each other and spaced apart peripherallyof the door opening, a member spaced inwardly from one of said edge portions and parallel therewith forming a rigid pocket opening towards the edge portion of the other shell, a breaker strip for closing the space between the shel'ls,.said breaker strip having a side edge thereof extending into said rigid pocket, means for securing the other side edge of the breaker strip to the opposite edge portion of the other shell and independently removable metal springs disposed in' the bottom of said pocket and projecting between the breaker strip and said inwardly spaced member, said springs having two resilient portions one of which exerts a force substantially at right angles to the other, one of said resilient portions contacting the edge of the breaker strip which extends'into said pocket and the other of said resilient portions contacting the adiacent face of said breaker strip, .to thereby urge said breaker strip sidewardly toward said securing means and crosswise toward the inner face of the edge portion of the shell which forms said pocket.

2. In refrigerator cabinet construction, the combination of innerand outer shells having heat insulation therebetween and provided with a door opening, said shells having edge portions bent inwardly toward each other and spaced apart peripherally oi the door opening, a member spaced from. one of said edge portions and parallel therewith forming a rigid pocket opening towards the edge portion of the other shell, a breaker strip for closing the space between the shells, said breaker strip having a side edge thereof extending into said rigid pocket, means for securing the other side edge of the breaker strip to the opposite edge portion of the other shell and independently removable metal springs disposed in the bottom of said pocket and proward said securing means and crosswise toward an inner face of said pocket.

HOWARD D. WHITE. 

